COPENHAGEN Zoo said they killed Marius the giraffe to avoid in-breeding, despite offers to rehome him. WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS UPSETTING IMAGES

Marius the giraffe who was killed by Copenhagen Zoo despite offers to re-home (Photo: Getty)

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A HEALTHY young giraffe slaughtered despite an international campaign to save him was butchered in front of a crowd of children today.

Marius was shot with a bolt gun after a final meal of rye bread, then his carcass was cut up and fed to lions at Copenhagen Zoo.

Youngsters watched as zoo staff in green gloves dissected the animal, which was killed despite offers of a new home for the two-year-old.

The Danish zoo claimed Marius had to be killed to avoid in-breeding.

But a furious British animal lover tweeted to Copenhagen Zoo: “Shame on you, and for giving children front-row seats at the autopsy.”

Another called for a boycott of the zoo, adding: “Not only did they put down a healthy animal, they turn it into a spectacle? Confused.”

Comic Ricky Gervais posted online: “Destroying a beautiful healthy animal because it was surplus to your needs just isn’t good enough.”

Some 20,000 people signed an online petition to save Marius from “death row”, and campaigners protested outside the zoo over the weekend.

But Marius was shot – a lethal injection was ruled out so his meat would not be contaminated – and remains were pictured being fed to lions.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster, which has a new giraffe house and previously took a male giraffe from Copenhagen, had offered to give Marius a home.

A Swedish zoo and a Netherlands wildlife park also offered to take him – but Copenhagen bosses insisted it had no choice but to kill Marius because of its duty to avoid in-breeding.

Robert Krijuff, boss of the Netherlands wildlife park whose last-minute offer of a place was also rejected, said: “I can’t believe it. We offered to save his life. Zoos need to change the way they do business.”

Stine Jensen, from Denmark’s Organisation Against the Suffering of Animals, said the situation “should not have occurred”.

“Here we have a zoo which thinks that putting this giraffe down instead of thinking of alternatives is the best option,” she said.

But Bengt Holst, scientific director at Copenhagen Zoo, insisted giraffes had to be selected so the best genes were passed down to ensure the animal’s long-term survival.

The zoo puts down 20 to 30 animals a year to help manage their populations, he said.

He added: “Giraffes today breed very well, and when they do you have to choose and make sure the ones you keep are the ones with the best genes.”

He said all zoos had been considered, but that any available space should be given to a “genetically more important” giraffe.

The Zoo said in a statement: “The euthanasia is happening in agreement with the European Breeding Programme for giraffe.

“It is not possible to transfer the giraffe to another zoo as it will cause in-breeding.”

The zoo’s boss stressed castration had not been an option as it can have “undesirable effects” on the giraffe's internal organs.

A lion eats part of the giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo

And he said releasing the animal into the wild has little chance of success and there are no giraffe release programmes.

A spokesman for Yorkshire Wildlife Park said it was “saddened” by Marius’s death, adding: "When news of the plan was revealed on Saturday YWP immediately contacted Copenhagen Zoo via YWP's head of hoofstock who is Danish and explained to the zoo why the Park urgently wished to speak to the zoo and requested a call to confirm the situation regarding the giraffe.

"YWP has a state of the art giraffe house built in 2012 with a bachelor herd of four male giraffes and the capacity to take an extra male, subject to the agreement of the European stud book keeper. One of the YWP giraffes is Palle, who came from Copenhagen Zoo in September 2012, when he was the same age as Marius.

"YWP did not hear back from the zoo, but on Saturday night YWP was contacted by the Danish press and the BBC and asked if they could confirm that they had made an offer to rehome Marius. YWP confirmed that they had contacted the zoo but had not heard back.

"YWP has now seen press reports that Copenhagen has euthanased Marius. Without knowing the full details it would be inappropriate to comment further."